Wednesday, September 17, 2008

On Constitution Day (did you know we had such a thing?) this video [5:45] seems on the mark. Last week at a town hall meeting in Michigan, Barack Obama called on an articulate and very distressed citizen who gave a mini-speech as so many questioners will. She wants her country back.

And after some overly bellicose warm-up posturing, Obama explained and defended the principle of habeas corpus and the rule of law. He knows why we need it.

"We might think we've grabbed Barack the terrorist, when in fact we've got Barack who is running for President."

He could say more. He could say a lot more. But unlike the other guy, he demonstrates that he knows what the Constitution is and that we need it to set some limits on the arbitrary power of the state. Electing him would give those of us who care about the rule of law a place to start clawing our country back.

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What is this blog for?

This San Francisco purveyor of graffiti has it right. When times are bleak -- when country and planet sink under the barely restrained sway of greed, raw power, and fear -- it's time to restate what matters.

I write here to preserve and kindle hope for a national and global turn toward multi-racial, economically egalitarian, gender non-constricting, woman affirming, and peace choosing democracy that preserves the habitability of earth for all. There's a big order -- but what else is there to do but struggle for this? Not much.

Topics range from the minuscule to the transcendent to the global, from dire to delightful. I am not an optimist, but I refuse to allow myself to wallow within the easy bias that everything is going to always be awful. Good also happens; love lives too.

I've been yammering here about activism, politics, history, racism and other occasional horrors and pleasures since 2005. I intend to continue as long as the opportunity exists. In this time, that means activism and chronicling resistance. Perhaps it always has, one way and another.

About Me

I'm a progressive political activist who runs trails and climbs mountains whenever any are available. I've had the privilege to work for justice in Central America (Nicaragua and El Salvador), in South Africa, in the fields of California with the United Farmworkers Union, and in the cities and schools of my own country. I'm a Christian of the Episcopalian flavor; we think and argue a lot. For work, I've done a bit of it all: run an old fashioned switch-board; remodeled buildings and poured concrete; edited and published periodicals, reports and books; and organized for electoral campaigns. Will work for justice.